A Fine Line
by Idtotallytapthat
Summary: What If Yahiko Never died? Would the Akatsuki still be a criminal organization? Would there be Pain? Or would Nagato follow his master's path and bring peace to the shinobi world? The ame orphans have always had such a sad life. This is their one chance at happiness.
1. A New Dawn

Disclaimer: Naruto and all its characters, places, and names are not owned by me.  
T for Violence.

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Lol I have no Idea how to write a disclaimer.  
So, this is my first fic (constructive criticism, if you will). I know somebody else on FF wrote something pretty similar already, but he (or she) stopped updating, and my story is probably going to take a different chain of events, too. This is my first ff, but I've been lurking around FF for a while (FF = , ff=fanfic), so I know most of the rules and will try my best to use proper grammar and spelling. I am going to try to make this fic as canon as possible, while keeping it as my own original fanfiction (as in events are going to unfold as they should in the canon, but will be altered based on what I make the characters do. This chapter will be short because it is an intro chapter. This is what would have happened had Yahiko not died. I love the Ame Orphans. They are so beautifully created, but I hate how they were always so miserable. So, I took it upon myself to change that. But enough of this. Let's get started.

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This fic will be written in the point of view of a different character each chapter. The point of view will be listed right above the fanfiction.

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POV: Yahiko (First Person.)

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There are lots of things I don't understand. I don't understand why humans kill other humans. I don't understand calculus. I don't understand the two voices in my head who keep calling my name, calling for me to come back. I don't understand why we have to be so miserable. We. Who was that again? Oh, yeah. Me, Konan, and Nagato. But, there is one thing I do understand. No, better yet, there is one thing I know. Its that I'm not going to be another pain who haunts the conscience of my two best friends. They've suffered so much already. After all, If I'm going to be the god of this world, I can't die right now. Konan and Nagato. It's their voices in my head, isn't it? I'll force my eyes open. Can I do that? No, I can't. Maybe, if I follow the voices, they will lead me home. Home. Ha. I don't even know where that is. My own country is killing me. But, still. I want to open my eyes again. I just have to concentrate on their voices.  
"...yahiko..."  
I can hear them.  
"Yahiko, no"  
It's getting louder...  
"YAHIKO PLEASE!"  
That voice snaps at me, and snaps my eyes open, too. I try to breathe in, but it hurts so much. I don't want to breathe if it hurts so much, but if I wish to become the god of this world, I must learn to bear pain. To accept it. To contemplate it. To know it.(*)

My eyes clear. All I can see is blood. No. Thats... Thats... HAIR!

"NAGATO!" I cry out and grab him from the shoulders, still hurting to breathe.  
I spin around and find konan on the other side of me with her mouth wide open and eyes filled with tears. I grab her and pull her into a tight hug. All the pain leaves me. She starts sobbing onto my shoulder and I'm on the verge of tears too, for no reason at all, except I'm just happy to be alive. Because all we have in these three lives combined is each other, and the pain we each carry. And to lose one of us is to lose everything.

"Yahiko, I thought you were gone...forever" Konan had stopped sobbing and was smiling, but tears were running down her face. (1)

"I'm not going to die. I told you already, I'm going to be the god of this world, and what kind of god dies before people even know who he is."

I let go of Konan and she sits down onto the dirt next to me. Nagato plops down next to her.

"You're still going on about that Yahiko? You aren't a child anymore." said Nagato, but every word he uttered sounded like his last. He was exhausted as much as I was, and it sounded like he was hurt.

Pain washes over me again, starting from the wound where Nagato, no, I impaled myself. From where the wound was , it seems that the kunai hit right under where my heart would have been.

"It looks like I stabbed you right under the heart. Finally a stroke of good luck." Nagato conversed lightly but seriously, trying to take the blame of my near death upon himself.

"Nagato don't you dare say that. You had nothing to do with what happened. I threw myself at you because I didn't want to make you pick between my and Konan. I couldn't let you bear that kind of pain."

"I'm sorry Yahiko."

"I told you Nagato, you have nothing to be sorry for."

I turn to face Nagato. What greets my eyes is unexpected. Nagato has spikes piercing outward from his back and his legs look burnt.

"Na...ga...to.. what... happened to you? What happened to all the ninja?"

"I've seen the true powers of the rinnegan. They say the Sage created peace using it, but how in the world can something like this bring peace!? How can jutsu be used for anything other than harm!?" Why would the sage teach something so harmful to humans in order to create peace?" Nagato was holding his head in his hands and was gripping his hair. "I killed so many. And do you know the worst part? I felt like they deserved it."

Konan replies to this.

"Nagato, I don't know or care what the sage did. But if you didn't do what you did, we would be dead. So, please, forgive yourself for are going to start the akatsuki over again, and we WILL bring peace to this world."

"But how?" replies Nagato. "how can we restart the akatsuki again; we can't get innocent people involved only to have them slaughtered again."

"We don't" I reply, and as the leader of the akatsuki, my decision is final. "The three of us are the akatsuki. We alone will bring forth a new dawn over this world."

"I'm sorry, Yahiko" Nagato says for the third time. "But, I can no longer walk. I'm crippled."

"Do you remember the two leaf ninja Jiraiya was with?" asks Konan.

"Of course," I answer.

"The woman happens to be one of the greatest medics of the century. We should go to the Leaf, and ask for her help. She wouldn't turn down two of her teammate's students, would she?"

"I second Konan," I say once again using my power as the leader of the three member akatsuki. "Nagato, what about you?"

Nagato thought for a moment. It was no secret that Konoha's recklessness had killed his parents.

"I could never forget the symbols marked on those headbands that killed my parents,(2) Each time Jiraiya put on his headband, I was filled with the pain of long ago. But Jiraiya was a great man who wore that headband, And it would be nice to meet him once again, too. I third Konan, as well."

"But how will nagato walk?"

"I could make a stretcher out of paper." Konan answered.

"I think I could alter gravity using the rinnegan to make myself lighter, as well. But, for now, I think we should dress our wounds, cut off these rods, eat, and sleep. We will leave in the morning.

"Yeah, I really could use some sleep, too." I say.

We eat and dress our wounds. We then crawl under a tree lit by moonlight and make ourselves as comfortable as possible. Nagato on the left, with his hands under his head, me in the middle with my head on a tree root, and Konan on the right, with her head somehow managing to land on my shoulder. Once again, the pain leaves me and I enjoy lying there with all I have on both my sides. I am almost afraid to fall asleep, because it feels like I might start dying again, but I need my sleep. I wonder if the Nagato and Konan are asleep yet. I look at Konan and see that she is asleep, but smiling. It seems quite strange, but I can understand why she would be smiling, after all that has happened. I start to smile, too, because I know that I'm not going to lose them, and they're not going to lose me. I feel myself succumbing to the reaper known as slumber. I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.

Shafts of sunlight beaming through my eyelids wake me up. I carefully get up, not to wake up Konan, And slip out from underneath her. Still, her smile seems to fade away. Nagato is already woken up, and is preparing breakfast to the best of his crippled abilities.

"Good morning" I say.

"Good morning"

We start dining on the leftover bread and fruit, saving some for Konan.

"I've always wante

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d to see what a city as rich as the capital of a great nation would look like." he says.

To this I have no reply, because none is needed. He wants to see if the Konohagakure is anything like Amegakure, and if its people are like the violent ninja who killed his parents. But the ninja who killed his parents were not necessarily violent. People lose all their humanity in a war. Why is killing someone in a war justified while killing someone any other time called murder?

Konan wakes up at this moment.

"Good morning" she says.

We reply the same.

"Come and eat Konan", I say, "We leave as soon as we are finished eating."

We eat in near silence, and then we depart for Konoha, with Nagato on the paper stretcher.

A gentle rain starts to fall over the trio. At the Border of the country, the last standing ruined bridge that connects amegakure with the rest of the world, the one that overlooks the entire country in all of the glory it never had, Nagato sits up and turns to the country, as if addressing it.

"This country is crying for us, Yahiko, and its tears are red with blood."

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CH1: END

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AN:  
(*):lol Irony  
(1): Konan cries because she only becomes a badass after Yahiko dies. Yahiko never died, so she's not a badass.  
(2):Nagato prejudices the entire hidden leaf for what happened to his parents. He can't remember the faces of the people who killed his parents, but he can remember the headbands.

Alright it's done. spent 3 hours straight last night writing this, and I'm sure it's filled with plotholes. The best I can do is proofread it. I can't wait until later chapters when they meet minato and fight 9tails together and stuff. Sorry if this fanfic has too many happy endings, but the real reason I'm writing it is to make the Ame Orphans' story more happy. But dammit, I feel like I'm forgetting something. Oh and remember how I said this chapter was going to be short? I lied.

Please Comment a review and remember, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ONLY  
I write for the fanbase of naruto to be happy, not to be internet famous. Ok, maybe a little of both.

Until next time:  
Idtotallytapthat


	2. The Village Hidden In The Leaves

Disclaimer: Naruto and all its characters, places, and names are not owned by me.  
T for Violence.

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Yay for chapter 2!  
Sorry for long update time...No motivation...Ima try to update weekly from now on, even if its just for that one reviewer who posted one word. I LOVE YOU ONE REVIEWER WHO POSTED THAT ONE WORD REVIEW. YOU ARE MY NEW ENTIRE FANBASE. :) One day I'm going to look back and say "lol how I ever think I update weekly. update weekly? best joke ever." Crap I'm only writing the authors notes before the fic and I'm already running out of things to oh yea. Make sure all criticismal (is that even a word...well, now it is) reviews are constructive. Constructive criticism ftw. I want to make this fic better. Just like how Orochimaru wanted to make sasuke's body better...to look at. All bad OroXSasu jokes aside... second chapter of my first fic. Enjoy!

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POV: Nagato

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"Konoha eh?...Not too shabby." Yahiko comments after taking a long look at the Konohagakure wall and the rooftops that peek above it.

"Wait until we get inside before you start calling it warm and friendly," offers Konan.

An argument would should have started up, but honestly, it would be too tiring. It took the entire day to make it to Konoha, and only one break was taken for food. I had promised to use my rinnegan to lighten myself, but it turns out I couldn't use it for more than 5 minutes of levitation, then I needed 10 minutes to recharge. Yahiko was in no state to be carrying people around in the first place, and I can't Imagine how much pain he must be in. But, he was resolute. He wanted to get to Konoha in one clean swoop. Even for Konan, who is perfectly healthy, the journey must have been exhausting. If only I could walk. It would make it so much easier on them. It's a strange relationship we have; one of us is always trying to lighten the pain for the other two. But since we all try to do it, our pain stays the same. We give and we receive equally. We don't speak about it either. It comes naturally. You could say our hearts are pure. But it's not like that. At all.

We make our way to the Konoha gates. Guards seem to appear out of every darkened corner. 2,4,6 guards in total. They each wear the Konoha sub-jounin uniform: a green vest over gray clothes. We anticipated them, and had thought of what to say along the path to Konoha. It has been decided that we will be near-honest, and tell them about being Jiraiya's students, and about us being part of a peace organization. We will omit the part about Hanzo's failed assassination attempt and especially about Nagato's rinnegan. I put my bangs in front of my eyes just for that purpose, although, I doubt they would be able to tell in this kind of darkness. If anyone catches sight of my rinnegan, it will arouse unnecessary complications.

We all take a couple steps forward into the sight range of one of the guards.

"Stop! Who are you and why have you come.?" The one who looks like the head steps out.

Konan answers to this. "We come to seek the medical help of Lady Tsunade. We are 3 of Jiraiya's students and are badly injured. One of us is even on a stretcher. We are part of a peace organization called the Akatsuki, and we mean no harm."

The guard turns to the others and relays the information. They talk nervously, and I hear snippets of what they are saying, like "Amegakure headbands", "peace organization?" and "kids".

The head guard turned back around and faced Konan. "Why are you so injured if you are in a peace organization?"

A tricky question. What could we possibly say for the guards not to find out. Konan looked at Yahiko as if asking If she should continue. Yahiko gave Konan a quick nod. It's risky, but we'll tell the guard about Hanzo.

"Hanzo the Salamander," Konan said briefly.

The guard's eyebrows raised in interest.

"Hanzo the Salamander accused us of trying to dethrone him. He then tried to kill us. Obviously, It didn't work."

The guards eyes widen. He turns slightly to his colleagues. "If I recall correctly, wasn't Hanzo in league with lord Danzo?"

"Yeah," another guard says, "Danzo sent some ANBU to help Hanzo eliminate some people. Then, all the ANBU were found dead, but with not a single scratch on them."

"You don't think..." Says the chief guard.

This was turning really bad really fast.

"No way, they're just kids. (1) Besides, How can we take what they are saying to be true."

"Let's get Jiraiya down here and lets see if he can Identify them" says the chief.

Thank god. Jiraiya will come and clear things out. Still, there is a man in Konoha in league with Hanzo? All thoughts of this village being nice leave me. But does that mean that Jiraiya sensei is also in league with Hanzo? How can such a vile man be in league with my teacher?

"You guys don't move, and don't try anything funny." The chief deploys somebody into the village to get Jiraiya.

"Can I at least lower this stretcher to the ground?" Yahiko asks the guard, without giving out any names.

"Hmm. I guess you can."

They lower me to the ground lowly, Yahiko's eyes never leaving the guard, and the the guards eyes never leaving Yahiko. We sit in silence, waiting for a good 10 minutes, until eventually, we hear a scolding going on within the walls.

"I don't care how important it is, it can wait until morning! The sun isn't even near the horizon yet! Now I'll never be able to go back to sleep, but I'll be tired for the rest of the day. Learn a little from your elders dammit!"

That voice... it belongs to jiraiya sensei!

Jiraiya and a guard walk through the gates, then turn toward us. Jiraiya's eyes widen suddenly.

"Yahiko, Konan, Nagato! Is that you? Woah... How many years has it been?"

"You know them?" Asks the guard obliviously.

"Do I know them? They were my students for 3 years! They can enter and exit the village as they please. Lord 3rd is sure to agree."

"Back to you guys, what are you...wait are you guys injured?!"

Yahiko replies to this. "Yeah, we were injured in a fight. That's why we came here, besides seeing you. We need the help of Lady Tsunade."

"Tsunade? She's probably asleep, but I guess this can't wait. Are you hungry? I'll get you something to eat as soon as we get to Tsunade's. She will probably have to get the medical team together first. We can't waste any more time. Let's get going.

It was a short walk to tsunade's large house. It was Part of the older part of the city, made from the toughest looking wood I have ever seen.

Jiraiya knocked twice on the big door. A few seconds wait and the door was smashed open from the inside.

"WHO THE HELL IS...Oh, it's just you Jiraiya. What could possibly be so important that you would come here at this time of night?

"I swear, this time it really is important! I have injured ninja!"

She looks us three over for a second, her eyes glazed, as if blocking evil from entering her sight, then her brows furrow. Does she remember us from that one time? She probably remembers that Jiraiya had other students, but are faces too? We only met her once, so I doubt it. But she does seem to recognize us from somewhere, somewhere that other people don't know about.

"So? The medical building is open 24/7. Why do they need my help in specific?

"That's because... Wait why do you need to see Tsunade specifically?"

I answer. "My legs are permanently damaged. No ordinary medic can heal that."

"But still, I've never even met them. "

"What does that have to do with anything? How many years have I known you, Tsunade, and you have never said those words to anyone. It's in a medics creed to heal all those injured, regardless of origin.(2)"

"Jiraiya, can you come with me to the back for a second?"

"What could possibly be stopping you from healing these kids?"

"Just come."

Jiraiya and tsunade moved into the other room and started talking to each other extremely quickly. Even with the thick wall between us, It was fairly easy to make out what they were saying, as the walls were made out of pure, reverberating wood, carrying out each word into the ground.(3)

"Don't you know who they are?"

"They're my students, Tsunade."

"They're in the Bingo Book"

"For what?"

"...It doesn't say.."

"Most of what's in the Bingo Book is bribery, lies, and childish rivalry. Half of what is in there is the raw prejudice of the higher ups. They put whoever they don't like in there, regardless of whether he or she actually committed a crime."

"Still..."

"Do you remember whose jurisdiction they fall under?

"I believe that they fall under the pages that lord Danzo owns."

"You see?! Danzo put them in the book. You know he's corrupt!"

"Look, Jiraiya, just take them to the medical building for now, get them treated, then will ask lord 3rd what to do in the morning.

"...fine. But I know you Tsunade, and you aren't like this."

They returned to the room, where we sat; still and soundless. It feels weird to be the cause of all this arguing; I hate to be the cause of the problem. Visiting my old master is a lot different than expected. I just hope I'm not too much of a bother.

"You're going to go to the medical division for now, will talk about healing permanent damage in the morning," Jiraiya yawned. "Can you go yourselves, or should I escort you?"

"Were fine by ourselves, but thank you anyway," I reply.

"In that case, I'll be heading home. I need to get some sleep."

We part ways at Tsunade's door, and Jiraiya gives us directions to the medical building. Its about 5 minutes away from Tsunade's house, but thats understandable, seeing as how a medic ninja has to go to the building whenever duty calls. We walk in silence, because it is difficult to talk and walk at the same time in this state. Whether or not I can walk for the rest of my life is going to be decided by hidden leaf ninja tomorrow. I guess it shows how much influence some people have over others lives. I guess all I can do now is wait.

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(1) They are about 16-17  
(2) Made that up  
(3) If you couldn't tell, her house was built by Senju.

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FINALLY DONE! goddammit I'm so sorry for taking so long to update. Even If I have like 1 follower. You know how it is with midterms.I promise I'll get the next chapter out either next week or the week after that. Starting next chapter, I'm going to be having tons o' funs. Ohohoho, but no spoilers foh you. You is goings to haves to waitz.


	3. Past And Present

Sorry for late chapter... Really late chapter. I think i promised this, like, a week after the last chapter. Not. Four months. Well, the real juice starts now. All the real plot starts this chapter. No more aimless wandering, I think I found enough of that in skyrim, LOTR, and every epic I've ever read. We're going to have an actual plot! As I go to bed, I get all these great ideas, then at around 10pm, when I actually go to write it down, holy crap where'd it go. I had it last night. So, now, I have a brilliant idea. One that takes sheer genial force of mind to come up with. I'll write BEFORE I go to sleep. So, now I got an iPad so I may be able to write IN class as well, so you can expect chapters faster. Buuuuut, don't count on it. I'm known to be a pocrastinator. I'll write like 5 words then call it a day. But 20 reviews? This is the fan fiction equivalent to being as famous as Gabe Newell: Most people don't know who you are, but the people who do worship you like a god. OH! Nearly forgot my disclaimer. Why do I need to write one anyway? I'm sure Jump has better things to do than taking down. Fanfictions. But what do I know about corporations. Apple sued Samsung for using round squares. Or something like that. I love just spamming whatever comes to mind in the introduction. Tis quite relaxing. Aaaahhh, most of you probably don't even find me funny. And the few of you that do find me funny in that retarded way that people in England generally use to laugh at American republicans. But what do I know about politics. I'm probably talking straight out of my ass right about now. Wait what was I supposed to be writing about? Oh yeah, Naruto. Weeeeeeellll this is the chapter. But I assume you already knew that. "Unless maybe you're just stupid"-Sir Monkey D. Luffy.

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POV: Nagato

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I stare up at the ceiling, and it stares back down, almost disapprovingly. It's a konoha ceiling, on a Konoha building, in a Konoha street, In the Konoha city. I do't like Konoha, but I don't hate it either. I don't like the city. I don't like the laws. I don't like the values. I don't like the buildings, the streets, the sewers, the shops, the plazas, or the hospitals. I don't like the culture, the food, the moral, the air, or the people. But Amekagure is no better. I doubt anywhere is better. So, I really don't mind staying here. But I wish I did. I wish Amegakure was beautiful, so it would be dull here in comparison. I wish Amegakure's people were kinder, so Konoha's would be greedy monsters in comparison. But most of all, I wish Amekagre was home, so I could feel homesick, so I could know there was someplace that would always be there to take me. Maybe I just envy the people of Konohagakure. One day, we will go back to our land. And we will turn it into the land of our dreams. But until then, everyday is a mystery.

I sit up in my bed. The window next to me spills light on the room. There isn't much of anything in it. Just the bed I'm sitting on. I'm bandaged up pretty well; they completely removed those rods. I try to move my legs. I can manage to move them with some difficulty, but there's no doubt in my mind that I still can't walk. I guess I have to wait for someone to come in and get me.

I scoot over and look out the window. It's just a regular Konoha day, people are casually strolling through the boulevard, ducking in and out of whatever shop that happens to be nearby. They don't look like they have anywhere in particular to be. As if they wander KonohaIt's a sunny morning, and it can't be past 11:00. I love mornings. It's as if everything that happened the day before means nothing, and it's a new day, and a new beginning. Mornings are warm and welcoming, bright and cheerful. Maybe I like mornings so much because they cheer me up.

Two knocks on the door interrupt me from my aimless pondering.

"COME IN!"

The door is unlocked, and even if it were it can only be unlocked with a key. It's a sturdy door, too. It doesn't look like it can be broken down easily. Seems like the hospital wants to ensure safety of patients from intruders. An odd priority, for a hospital. Of course, I wouldn't know, as there were no hospitals left standing in amegakure. Neither side wanted a place for the opposing armies to heal, so they burnt down hospitals. Maybe thats why this hospital is so sturdy. They don't want anyone to sneak in on injured ninjas and finish the job. I guess Konoha isn't as peaceful as it appears.

The door opens and Jiraiya sensei comes in first, followed closely by Konan and, Yahiko, who has a huge smile on his face.

"Good morning Nagato!" Yahiko uses the loudest of outdoor voices to say this, and there isn't any doubt in my mind that the neighboring rooms can hear him. Konan and Jiraiya repeat Yahiko's message, but at a more well suited volume. They both look happy, but neither is smiling as brightly as Yahiko, whose grin takes up a good chunk of his face.

"Good morning," I throw out to everyone at once.

Jiraiya speaks first. "How are you feeling, Nagato? They say the medicine of this country outdoes all others."

"Although I still can't walk, all my other injuries are gone. I can't even tell that I was harmed."

"It's amazing! I don't even feel any discomfort, forget about pain. There's not even a scar on my chest! How are thing like these even possible? This is nothing short of a miracle! We have to learn how to do this. Jiraiya sensei, do you think you could find us a teacher?" Yahiko blurts out without a second thought.

Jiraiya laughed a sailors laugh at that, and offered his reponse. "Learning medical ninjustsu takes years of practice. But maybe we can find someone to teach you three the basics."

"Speaking of medicine," Jiraiya countinues, "Lord Third and Tsunade are in the hallway as we speak, discussing your condition, Nagato."

"The third Hokage is here?" Konan asks. I wouldn't think that someone as important as him would have enough free time to visit a patient he has never met before in his life.

"The Hokage is often here. He always finds time to visit the sick and wounded. It's just a coincidence that he is here when we need him. The whole village looks up to the Hokage, he really is a people's person. Still, there are people who'd like to take him out. He was my old teacher, you know."

A hoarse, jolly laugh echoes throughout the outside hall, and seems to be moving towards my room.

"I hear someone talking about me!"

The third hokage and lady Tsunade walk into the room, followed by what looks like the hokage's assistant. The hokage is dressed in the bright red robes that signify him as the governor of the land of fire. He is old, very old, but he burns bright, as if stealing the color from his robes. How appropriate.

Amegakure had near no political power. Our leader, Hanzo, could only make appeals during Kage summits. He could not vote or introduce bills. Not that he would want to, anyway. The only thing that mattered to that man was his own power. They say that at one point Hanzo was a man for his country. But, at one point he started to dislike people. Not anyone in particular. Just disliking people in general.

"Good morning, everyone." He says with a genuine smile on his face.

Konan and I nearly mumble "good morning", but Yahiko and Jiraiya nearly yell it, Jiraiya because it's his old teacher, and Yahiko just because he can. Jiraya bows down deeply, and Konan follows his example.

"Ahaha, please, skip the formalities, Jiraya boy. Well. You three must be the trio that I've been hearing about," he says turned to us. "You three are from amegakure, correct?"

Only Yahiko nods his head.

The Third frowns a little at this. It is not exactly the enthusiasm he expected from people as young as us. He doesn't frown much, though. His facial expression hardly changes, at least, not enough for someone to be able to tell that he is frowning. But you still somehow know that he is. It may be more of a lack of a smile than an abundance of a frown.

"Well, I'd like to hear a bit about you three first, before we start doing any real discussing." His smile was back.

"Pardon me, lord Third, You have a meeting coming up in 10 minutes. We really don't have the time to be personal in this situation." The adviser speaks for the first time since his arrival. In all honesty, I'm glad I don't have to repeat my story. Dwelling on the past can do no good.

Tsunade speaks. "Lord Hiruzen, I already briefed the situation to you. If you-"

"Tsunade, please. You cannot put down your duties for something as arbitrary as if, the people of Amegakure have done us no wrong. Which is more than I can say for the other way around. We owe this help to them. They will be healed, but whether or not they can stay is not a matter I can decide on my own. A meeting will be held exactly one week from now to decide on just that."

"They are marked in the bingo book!"

"Enough, Tsunade. You will fulfill your duties with grace and ambition. I shall take my leave now."

"Yes, master."

The third Walks out calmy. For someone as old as him, he brought an insane amount of emotions, not his emotions, but our emotions. Just his presence could make a person happy sad, angry, calm, and even driven insane. And the most empowering part of it was that he could choose exactly which emotion he wanted to give out. That is what gives him such a reassuring aura, and what makes the people of this country believe in him.

He seems to have taken the life with him; the room is dead quiet after he leaves. Even Jiraiya and Yahiko just stare at their feet, like children.

Lady Tsunade lets out a sigh. It's long and exasperated, as if she's been holding that one mouthful of air the whole time that the third hokage was here.

"Come on, red hair. Let's get started."

* * *

The operation turns out to be just some advanced medical jutsu. It's about a 1 hour operation. The first 45 minutes go quite silently. The healing gives off a weird tingling sensation, like after getting pins and needles on a limb that you choked while sleeping. I watch her all through her work, never making eye contact. It's almost mesmerizing.

She turns her head towards me just a little bit. "Sorry about all that, red hair."

I pause for a moment. "There's no need to be sorry."

She sighs. "I was trying to deny you treatment."

"Really, it's ok. I understand why you'd be hesitant to give treatment to an outsider who just randomly barges his way into the village, with who knows what intentions."

"It's not just that. Not only did I not believe Jiraiya, my closest friend, but I denied you treatment because of my selfishness."

"What does this have to do with selfishness."

"I have somewhat of a grudge against your country."

"I would hardly consider it my country. It's about as hospitable to us as hell."

"Well, the war that happened across Amegakure a couple years ago... both my brother and my boyfriend were killed fighting in that war..."

She pauses for a moment then continues. "All I have to remember them by now is this necklace I wear." ..."They say it repels demon chakra." She gives a couple of quick, sad chuckles.

I take this as a chance to respond. "You know... my parents were killed in the same war" I say this while looking down.

"Were they fighting in it...?"

"No...No, they were civilians."

"Did...did we kill them?"

"Yeah."

She pauses for a full minute, as if thinking about the correct response. Then, she ends the conversation with one word.

"Oh."

* * *

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND its done. Happy four months not not updating FRIENDS. I think this chapter was written a lot better than the previous two. I tried to use subtle actions to characterize my characThors. ASGARD! Hahaha I should stop talking. Well, after writing about 2 and a half words a day, I hope you guys enjoy. We'll be seeing some of Minato and schtuff next chiptear. I promise, upon my heart that the next chapter will be out in 1-2 weeks. And by that I mean 4-6 months. Happy soon-to-be memorial day. Unless you don't live in america. Eurofags. Hahaha I kid you Europeans. I love you guys too. I really should stop talking now. And laughing at my own jokes.


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